Our country will be celebrating 21 years of freedom this year. We continue to thank the Lord for blessing us with a country as beautiful as ours. It is to be remembered that God’s creation is always ‘good’ for He was satisfied when He created it.
Our country will be celebrating 21 years of freedom this year. We continue to thank the Lord for blessing us with a country as beautiful as ours. It is to be remembered that God’s creation is always ‘good’ for He was satisfied when He created it.
We were placed as stewards of His world, but we decided to demarcate and pretend to own the world ourselves, resulting in all the wars and hatred we have seen over the ages.
We are suffering the consequences of those actions now.
When people conquer, they tend to destroy everything that reminds them of the past, and erect new symbols to remind them of their victory.
This is found in many places, not only in South Africa.
Our country had an option of destroying all symbols of oppression when we gained freedom but chose not to.
The road chosen was that of systematically transforming our country and landscape, rather than radical change.
The gradual manner in which South Africa under the African National Congress government has dealt with transformation seems to be perceived by some as deserting or delaying the broader transformation agenda.
The government put into place structures deal with the transformation of our landscape, viz. the National Heritage Council, South African Heritage Resource Agency and the National Geographical Name Change Council.
We have seen very little movement on the issue of statues. It seems as if the route chosen was to allow the old symbols to stand, and add new ones.
What we see now is the emergence of a group of people who have chosen to act independently of these structures, without consultation. Anything that will be done now will be perceived to be reactive, because of failure by the above mentioned structures to fulfil their responsibilities.
We need to keep reminding ourselves that the response of people to symbols differs depending on which side you are.
Before 1994 we remember that Black people saw government buildings, schools etc as symbolising the repressive government that was in power at that time.
These buildings became targets during times of uprising. Similarly now, some of our people destroy buildings because they remind them of a government that has failed to meet their needs.
We have imported methods that we used to destroy apartheid into the new democratic dispensation.
But as Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said in his statement:
“We must harness the energy being poured into protests into rigorous self examination and action to expand the current campaigns into a creative, society-wide drive for real transformation.”
As a Diocese we understand why some people feel that certain symbols have no place in the new dispensation.
We also understand that these statues are part of our heritage and they are works of art.
Our view is that government should establish a civil society commission that will engage all stakeholders and forge an inclusive approach, sensitive to the feelings of those affected.
We do not support the destruction and defacing of symbols.
We call for leadership that will stay close to people and heed their call, choosing a reconciliatory approach.
Let us not allow ourselves to be divided by these issues.
* Ebenezer Ntlali is the Bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown
